Author Topic: Best 'The Who' albums  (Read 12473 times)

Offline Carlman

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Best 'The Who' albums
« on: June 09, 2008, 05:30:07 AM »
I've got a greatest-hits album that represents a lot of good music of the Who.. but all of their music sounds poorly recorded that I've heard on CD.  It just sounds thin, with very little bass and rolled-off highs.  This is the case for a lot of music I like unfortunately.

Does anyone know of particularly well-mastered/recorded albums by the Who?  Doesn't matter if it's vinyl or CD...

Or, did the Who really use homemade instruments and record themselves with 1 mic?

Thanks,
Carl
I really enjoy listening to music.

westcoastman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2008, 09:48:57 AM »
You can get a bunch of remastered ones (CDs) from Amazon.  One of my favourites is Who's Next.

Hope it was CDs you were after?

« Last Edit: June 09, 2008, 09:50:50 AM by westcoastman »

Offline Carlman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2008, 11:42:19 AM »
I have 'Who's Next' and 'Then and Now' on cd.. The latter is on Geffen.  They both have the thinner sound, with Then and Now being a little better I think... (it's been a while since I really compared)

I'm more interested in 'mastered correctly the first time' rather than 'remastered'... and if that means vinyl, that's fine with me.  I don't care.  If it's reel-to-reel or 8-track, makes no difference.. just wondering what the best recording of The Who is.

-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

westcoastman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2008, 09:46:56 PM »
My "Who's Next" CD is the 1985 MCA (Canada) original mix CD. To me the sound was comparable to the LP when I owned it.  In my opinion though the Who only sound better as you increase the volume.

Check this site which has info on the type of quality you could expect from the different issues and re-issues of the various Who albums. http://www.thewho.info/WhosNext2.htm

It might help when looking for the best sound Who material.

Offline bobrex

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2008, 05:46:22 AM »
I have Trax pressings of Live at Leeds, Who's Next, and Tommy.  No pressing, no matter what vintage will make Live at Leeds sound good.  It's a crummy recording to begin with, but the music is great.  My Who's Next and Tommy sound great.  And no, they weren't recorded with one mike.  The Classic pressings may be your best bet.

Offline Carlman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2008, 05:59:06 AM »
Thanks for the link and suggestions.  I agree louder is better when it comes to the Who.. And tends to be true for Thin Lizzy, the Pixies, and some other groups I like to 'experience'.  I think when a lot of these bands were big, everyone was just having a good time and the recording quality was a distant afterthought... I mean, it was technically 'recorded' so what else should I want? haha.

I'll look for original pressings on vinyl and give 'em a spin... can't hurt to try.  I'll still enjoy the music. :)

-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

Rootmann

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2008, 09:42:36 AM »
Amazing without a few doobies and 20 beers had bad those recordings start to sound, huh???

LOL  Rock on....

Black Sand Cable

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2008, 01:05:49 PM »
Amazing without a few doobies and 20 beers had bad those recordings start to sound, huh???

LOL  Rock on....

Speaking of doobies, how about a little before getting on a plane?

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/stoners-advocat.html

As for the topic of this thread, not really a Who fan so I can't really comment. Now if we were talking Zeppelin, that would be a different story!  :D

Offline Rocket

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2008, 06:09:54 PM »
Hi Carl,

I have a couple of original 'The Who' albums dating from the 1970's and they are quite poorly recorded.

The remastered cd's are a lot better.

The 3 best albums are 'Tommy', Who's Next and Quadrophenia.  I'd give the rest a miss.

Regards

Rod

Offline Carlman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2008, 06:38:06 PM »
Good to know, thanks, Rod!
-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

Offline rollo

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2009, 07:51:25 AM »
The best Who Cds and LPs are IMO from Classic records. Berry berry good indeed.



charles
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westcoastman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2010, 08:22:13 PM »
I have Trax pressings of Live at Leeds, Who's Next, and Tommy.  No pressing, no matter what vintage will make Live at Leeds sound good.  It's a crummy recording to begin with, but the music is great.  My Who's Next and Tommy sound great.  And no, they weren't recorded with one mike.  The Classic pressings may be your best bet.

Just obtained The Who Live At Leeds (Deluxe Edition) which is a remix of the whole Live at Leeds concert instead of the 6 songs I had on my original CD.  My original CD sounded like it was copied from a used vinyl pressing, but this edition is a "thumbs up".

Offline tmazz

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2010, 09:10:59 PM »
I have Trax pressings of Live at Leeds, Who's Next, and Tommy.  No pressing, no matter what vintage will make Live at Leeds sound good.  It's a crummy recording to begin with, but the music is great.  My Who's Next and Tommy sound great.  And no, they weren't recorded with one mike.  The Classic pressings may be your best bet.

Just obtained The Who Live At Leeds (Deluxe Edition) which is a remix of the whole Live at Leeds concert instead of the 6 songs I had on my original CD.  My original CD sounded like it was copied from a used vinyl pressing, but this edition is a "thumbs up".

I have heard a number of those MCA "Deluxe Edition" CDs (The Who, Elton John & Cat Stevens) and while I wouldn't consider any of the ultimate reference sound for that given album they all had very credible and better than most sonics. They also contained some interesting bonus material. While I wouldn't run out and spend money to replace all my existing CDs with the ones from the Deluxe Edition series, I would definitely consider buying them for any CD in the series that I was looking to pick up for the first time.
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Offline BobM

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2010, 05:51:24 AM »
There are 3 essential's:

Who's Next
Tommy
Quadrophenia

Everything else is up for grabs.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you'll have to blow your nose.

westcoastman

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Re: Best 'The Who' albums
« Reply #14 on: April 26, 2010, 06:48:19 AM »
The Live at Leeds (Deluxe Edition) (Live) I was referring to was not an Essentials nor was it MCA but by BMG. As I have not heard any Deluxe Editions by MCA, I cannot compare sound quality but compared to the 1970 CD I have of Live at Leeds fro MCA the BMG issue significantly better in sound quality and content.